This Friday, the Capital City Celebration returns thanks to a partnership between the Springfield Jaycees and Springfield Lucky Horseshoes. The event begins at 2 p.m. at Robin Roberts Stadium with a dog pageant, inflatable zone for children and music by local band Astrofix. All of the activities are within the stadium’s gates, which requires a […]
Arts & Culture
Posted inArts & Culture
A redneck ruckus
Below its muddy banks, the water is as quiet as the village of Bath itself, which is just how the easily spooked invasive Asian silver carp that pour down from the chutes of the Illinois River like it. Normally, the voracious carp that plague the ecosystem of the rivers and lakes of the Midwest would […]
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Found Poem
Mysteries on tape 2.0 I am reading mystery books written in the last decade. I listen to them on Audible. I think I will write a mystery book. Chapter 1 will be about the most grotesque, bloody hacked up corpse you have ever heard about. Chapter 2 will abruptly be bucolic with green fields, […]
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Criteria for divine blessings
Some may remember Kate Smith singing the lyrics to a song written by Irving berlin in the early 1940s entitled, “God Bless America.” Birthed in the days of World War II, those lyrics and their resulting impact energize millions of Americans for years to come. God bless America, land that I love. Stand beside her […]
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The Hunchback of Notre Dame rings true
The opening moments of Muni’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, impeccably directed by Kevin Kulavic, are as impressive as the two hours of captivating theater that follow. The bells ring out, an enormous and intricate stained-glass window (beautifully designed by Tracy Tester) is illuminated, and a fully robed choir solemnly appears into the eerily lit […]
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Brad Pitt drives F1, 28 Years Later a poignant zombie story, Deep Cover full of intrigue
Pitt drives F1 into winner’s circle The very definition of a star vehicle, Joseph Kosinski’s FI features Brad Pitt, really fast cars, Brad Pitt, international locations, Brad Pitt, a pedestrian plot, Brad Pitt, dynamic filmmaking, Brad Pitt and a sleek visual approach. Brad Pitt is in it as well. With a budget north of $250 million, […]
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Critically acclaimed show coming to Hoogland stage
This musical, winner of the Drama Desk Award for Best Musical, follows four eccentric Broadway stars looking for a new stage. The four hear about trouble brewing over a prom in a small Indiana town. There, a student has been banned from bringing her girlfriend to the prom. The quartet sees a chance to spotlight […]
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Who loved/loves Lincoln?
When I finished reading the preface to Stacy Lynn’s Loving Lincoln: A Personal History of the Women Who Shaped Lincoln’s Life and Legacy, I was in tears. She had precisely nailed the types of demeaning and painful incidents experienced by most women historians and scholars in male-dominated fields. It was not at all what I […]
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Post Death Poem
How does one fill up forever? I suppose there all the old folk to talk to – Does Moses have a constant audience or does he get tired or bored with saying it all again? But it is never the same. For there are new people to talk to, new experiences, deaths. But suppose one […]
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Theatre in the Park: From past to present
When Theatre in the Park began in 1976, it was known as The Great American People Show, a nonprofit theater company focused on American history, particularly the life of Abraham Lincoln. For about 20 years, the popular company performed at Lincoln’s New Salem. In 1995, Illinois designated The Great American People Show as the official […]
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Look to modern manufacturing for high-paying, high-impact careers
Did you know that manufacturing plays a significant role in our local, central Illinois economy? From small- and medium-sized local businesses to national brands employing almost 1,000 people, the effect of these businesses is critical for our area. However, after spending much time talking with these employers, I know they struggle to maintain a full […]
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Stumbling toward unity
More than 150 years ago, Baha’u’llah proclaimed the oneness of humanity. Addressing mankind, he said, “The tabernacle of unity hath been raised; regard ye not one another as strangers. Ye are the leaves of one tree and the fruits of one branch.” In another place he says, “O children of men! Know ye not why […]
